^ I think Serena was totally overestimated by most pundits. I didn't see her winning. Sure she had been on a good stretch but not versus top players and mainly on BLUE clay which played like a hard court.

Radwanska, meanwhile, is playing EXCELLENTLY versus Venus; I love Aggie's game. Azarenka looked back on form today too.

The women's bracket is shaping up to be very exciting imo!

__________________Fashion: Don’t you recognize me? Death: You should know that I don’t see very well and I can’t wear glasses. Fashion: I’m Fashion, your sister. Death: My sister? Fashion: Yes. You and I together keep undoing and changing things down here on earth although you go about it in one way and I another. Giacomo Leopardi, “Dialogue Between Fashion and Death.”abridged

^and that's precisely the point rennae stubbs made last evening when they did the reviews of the day's actions. she,of course,commentates on the tennis channel here. anyway,people don't realize that RG courts are vastly different to that har-tru she won on at charleston and madrid always has a reputation for being a faster clay court already which totally feeds into serena's style of game. RG is the kind of place that forces players to grind out matches....it's heavier,it slows the pace down considerably,the movement is even a bit different.

that said,i think people are surprised mostly because this was a first round and against somebody like virginie razzano who really hasn't played very well in quite a while. i mean if it had been a r16 or QF against say a maria sharapova,li na or petra kvitova,it wouldn't have been such a shock.

i think what strikes me most as unusual is how the tables have sort of reverted for serena. with all the criticism she's got for so long for not participating enough on the tour level and succeeding at the majors instead,now she's playing and succeeding at the tour level but looking completely fragile at the majors.

and i completely agree with you NPJ.....stupendous performance today from aga! she really has a legitimate chance here,imo. and even though it was a comfortable victory,i can't gauge a whole lot from today's match from azarenka since her opponent was an inexperienced qualifier and nowhere near as highly ranked as brianti,it remains to be seen what her level will be going forward. in general,vika's form has taken a bit of a dip and i think that could potentially give aga an opening,especially with she coming off a title win on the clay.

btw,what the heck has happened to bartoli? ever since she upset vika at miami,her form has disappeared. she lost today to the very talented young croat petra martic. highly disappointing given how she performed at RG last year and with all the buzz about her not being able to qualify for the olympics,this would have a been a great moment to send a very friendly F-U to the FFT.

Federer has been dropping sets in every round. Djokovic was on the brink against Seppi. Nieminen nearly had Murray's number until he choked and somehow Andy is getting through despite clutching his back after every error.

And the women's field seems decimated. Li Na gone yesterday. I watched Radwanska take care of Venus easily but didn't see her match against Kuzzy where she was almost annihilated. Azarenka sent packing by a plucky Cibulkova who managed to not choke this time! And even Sharapova who appeared to be in the best form of anybody really had to grind her way past Zakopalova.

Picking any winners at this stage? The only certainty seems to be Nadal at this point.

meanwhile,after everything that happened yesterday with li and sharapova,kvitova demolished her opponent 2/1. and still she is floating under the radar. why is no one is talking about her chances whatsoever? shame.

the sad thing is,we still haven't learned anything from the last year or so and many continue overestimating certain players and that history has shown what that's created. and so many players at this point are being completely overshadowed unfairly. this isn't a tour event,this is a major tournament....we have two other recent major champs still in the mix. they should not be taken for granted because surprises have happened. and just the same....serena,li and vika were all picked by the pundits and are all now out. that's why i did not pick a fave and i will not pick one especially on this surface. it's too unpredictable and the fact that we don't have a standout clay court player like a justine henin these days,makes it very hard to choose certain players. the only thing i made certain was that sara errani will be a dark horse force.....and now she's into the semis.

good match today from sam. her spin proved too difficult for domi to handle,and sammy looks great and confident. errani played a very fun second set with kerber.....i think there like 13 breaks of serve for the match.....but kerber lost some steam toward the end after leading 6/5. but good performance this fortnight from kerber....this will push higher in the top 10. and errani will be the no.1 italian come the new ranks next week....she'll be inside the top 15. talk about two players who've suddenly maximized their talents.

Nole and Fed were marathon men today. Fed coming back from 2 sets down; Nole fighting off 4 MPs and the FO crowd. Tough men!

I am glad we get to see them again in the semi, though they are probably fighting for 2nd place as someone recently tweeted.

Still, I felt sad for Del Potro as his knee was clearly a factor and he just hit a wall. And I felt sad for Tsonga as he just couldn't get it done. Mind you, he played well, fought hard on those MPs, but Nole was a mad man.

Fabulous tennis!

I missed the ladies today. Getting down to the wire - who is everyone picking? I can't see past either Kvitova or Sharapova winning this? Who else could do it?

__________________Fashion: Don’t you recognize me? Death: You should know that I don’t see very well and I can’t wear glasses. Fashion: I’m Fashion, your sister. Death: My sister? Fashion: Yes. You and I together keep undoing and changing things down here on earth although you go about it in one way and I another. Giacomo Leopardi, “Dialogue Between Fashion and Death.”abridged

Well there's no problem with picking favorites before the tournaments starts?, yeah Serena and Sharapova were the favorites, but you can't knock on Serena like that, she was the favorite because she won two clay tournaments, granted they weren't the red clay of Roland Garros, but still they were clay, AND she beat Azarenka, Wozniacki, and Sharapova at Madrid, the "fast" clay court of Madrid is good for Azarenka and Sharapova's game and they lost badly to Serena. Serena beat really good players. It's a shame that she lost in the first round though.

I think people are looking past Kvitova because she didn't do too well in the pre Roland Garros tournaments, but still, I believe she's a factor in this tournament, she's a really good player, AND SHARAPOVA!!!, she's been playing unbelievable, she had a hard one in the last match she played against Zakopalova, if Kvitova and Sharapova reach the semis, it'll be really good, but we'll have to see how the quarters play out. I pick either Sharapova or Kvitova to win...but I want to see Sharapova win!!!

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well the point i am making though is that,looking at how things have transpired the last couple years,it's not so indicative of major success anymore. it's no longer the go-to formula because anybody can and have come out of the gate to play their best. just like serena going on that tear during the us open series and sam taking it to her in the final of the open. tour titles haven't necessarily equated to major success. and with that in mind,i do think when you have two recent major winners and the no.4 and no.6 players,at that,still very much involved,you can't overlook their chances either.

I missed the ladies today. Getting down to the wire - who is everyone picking? I can't see past either Kvitova or Sharapova winning this? Who else could do it?

At this point I'd pick Sam Stosur. I've not seen all her matches but she seems to have been the most solid of all of them. (Although I've made this mistake before, two years ago!) She's a great clay-courter and now has the slam-winning experience so perhaps less likely to falter in the crunch situations.

Sharapova is getting through but she seems to be struggling much more now than the early rounds. And I don't think I've seen any of Kvitova's matches at RG but she hasn't really convinced me with her results this year.

i'd have to at least give an edge to sam myself,either or....with her history and her comfort on this surface,at this event.....you'd have to lean a bit more on her side. the question will be,how will she handle the occasion this time? of course,i feel now that she's got the monkey off her back at the open,it might not be as stressful. she also hasn't dropped a set....even against one of her biggest nemesis in nadia petrova. errani i think will give her a good fight with her own brand of clay tennis but i think sam will have just a bit more power and kick for errani to handle.

as for petra or maria,we'll have to see. maria did not look spectacular in her last match and i certainly wouldn't say she looked flawless today against kanepi....kanepi didn't take much advantage on maria's serve which is a shame for somebody of that calibre. and petra has had a couple of unnecessary three-setters but both girls are fighters and hit a big ball.....again the question will be,which woman will be the one that rises to the occasion when it matters most? i have to say though,i watched petra's match today and despite the streakiness,i loved at 4-4 in that final set how petra dialed it back a bit and started to be a little more consistent,a bit more patient and moving the ball better. she obviously knows what she has to do,i just can't understand why she gets into these patches.

btw,i learned today with petra's win and progression into her first semi,she will return to the top 3 again,replacing radwanska. and i think sam will move ahead as well to 4.

well i'm surprised but not completely stunned. sam let the occasion get to her and she stopped moving her feet on crucial points. errani,played a very aggressive match today and really tried to go for sam's forehand a lot to get to her backhand and i think that really helped her. and besides all that,errani is playing the best tennis of her career this season and is and will be especially dangerous whomever she faces in the final. don't underestimate her whatsoever.

Congrats to Maria on reclaiming the Number 1 ranking. She deserves it. After that shoulder injury and all the struggle in the beginning, she's really become very good. Got her serve (mostly) in order. The UE can still plague her at times, but she's mostly managing them as well. Above all, she's very consistent. Unlike say Azarenka who had a good stretch there but is now struggling, or Kvitova who's a hit or miss, Sharapova has been going deep in most tournaments. I would be most happy if she wins on Saturday. It would be just such a good comeback story and t win the one major that's evaded her, would be amazing.

btw,isn't it funnily appropriate too that both of these women also happen to have the best records on clay this season? maria with her success but now i see why errani has 22-2 match record and 3 titles on the red dirt. for once,the lead-up success has actually translated. and sara will surpass the top 15 by entering the top 10 next week.

but if i see one more person complain about RG and how lame it supposedly is..... the truth of the matter is,it isn't about the tournament it's the fact that we don't have a truly visible clay-court stalwart like we did when we had justine henin,steffi or arantxa.